"Each of the steps build on the others and the sum of the steps is much greater than each one on its own," Sabatier says.

Advertisement

"If you follow the plan and stick with it, I promise you will end up with more money than you ever thought possible."

You can also pick the best ideas that work for you and still get results, he says, because it's a "customisable, scalable" strategy that can be used indefinitely.

1. Figure out your number.

According to Sabatier, "your number" is the amount of money needed to reach financial freedom, whatever that means to you.

"Maybe it's how much money you need to get out of debt, save six months of expenses, have enough money so you can take two years off to travel the world, or have enough money to live the rest of your life without ever having to work again," he says.

Ultimately, it depends on the type of lifestyle you want to live.

You can determine your number by calculating your expected annual expenses and multiplying it by 25 or 30.

Advertisement

The younger you are, the less money you need to have saved before you retire from full-time work because of the power of compounding, according to Sabatier.

But that's if you follow a few rules: Save at least 25 times your expected annual income, defer taking investment gains as long as possible, expand your six-month emergency fund to 12 months, live below your means, and preserve your investment principal.

"The problem with most personal financial advice is that it focuses primarily on two of these three variables: how to reduce expenses to increase your savings," he writes.

"In order to build wealth quickly, you need to maximise the potential of all three levers.

"By reducing expenses while simultaneously growing your income, you'll have more money to save/invest, which will help you increase your savings rate."

He adds: "While both are essential, to fast-track financial freedom, increasing your income is more powerful than cutting back on your expenses because you can only cut back so much and it gives you the opportunity to invest more money more often, accelerating the rate of compounding and the growth of your money."

4. Stop budgeting, and focus on what has the biggest impact on your savings.

While it's important to track your spending habits, it's not where you should dedicate most of your time, Sabatier says. "Budgets actually reinforce a scarcity mindset and hold most people back from saving and making more money," he writes.

5. Hack your 9-to-5.

Sabatier recommends strategically using your full-time job to make more money now and in the future.

It's essential if you want to reach your target number in as few years as possible, he says.

You can do this by maximising your benefits – like a 401(k) – and maximising your salary by proving your value and asking for a raise, which sounds intimidating but is easier to navigate if you're prepared.

Building a passive income business that generates a minimum amount of money to cover your monthly expenses "gives you more flexibility and potentially the opportunity to reach financial independence very quickly", he writes.

With the use of affiliate commissions and online advertisements, a good portion of these earnings were passive income.

She spent less than five hours a week blogging.

7. Invest as much money as you can, early and often.

"When you invest money, your money makes money and you don't need to trade much, if any, of your own time," Sabatier writes.

He calls investing "the ultimate form of passive income".

Advertisement

He advises separating your short- and long-term investing goals and setting a baseline number to invest in each account over each period, then determine your target asset allocation, or the percentage of each asset (whether stocks or bonds) in your investment accounts.

You should also evaluate investment fees, he says, because they "can have an enormous impact on how quickly your money grows, how much money you'll have within a given time frame, and how many years it will take you to reach your number".

He also emphasised maxing out your tax-advantaged accounts and opening a taxable account with any money left over.